The youngest of Bob and Felicia Burger’s four sons — all of whom were or are college athletes — Joe Burger had the rare distinction for a walk-on of being introduced as a starter last week because of injuries to linebackers Curtis Grant and Joshua Perry. Though he played only a handful of snaps because Ohio State mostly used alignments with extra defensive backs, it doesn’t detract from the fact that Burger has made quite a leap in his two years in the program. With a 3.4 grade-point average in a tough major, Burger has shown he can juggle a demanding schedule.

Question: I imagine that being the youngest of four boys meant you were a punching bag as you grew up. True?

Answer: I got beat a lot growing up. I’m not ashamed to admit that. Anytime we played basketball, baseball or football, I didn’t win all the time but it taught me to be really competitive. My brothers would never let anything go.

Q: What was the decision like to come to Ohio State? Was it hard to turn down Notre Dame considering that your dad and brother both were walk-ons there?

A: I had a couple of MAC scholarships. I was considering Buffalo and Miami, and I also considered Harvard for a little while. The University of Cincinnati offered me after signing day. I decided I needed to get out of Cincinnati because I know I’ll end up living there the rest of my life. It came down to Notre Dame or Ohio State. I know my brother, my dad and my two uncles went to Notre Dame. It’s a special place, but it didn’t have same ‘wow’ factor with me as for them. Ohio State had a lot more of that for me. I love the school. I love the engineering program and, obviously, I really like coach (Urban) Meyer and coach (Luke) Fickell.

Q: What was it like for you last Saturday, being named a starter, even if you didn’t see a ton of action?

A: I think I only got in for five or six plays. It was pretty cool just preparing and technically getting the start in our base defense.

Q: When did you find out you would start?

A: I think it was Thursday when Curtis was like, ‘Hey, man, I don’t think I’ll be able to go.’ He said, ‘I’ve got a lot of confidence in you. You’re going to do great.’ That’s when it hit me, like, ‘Wow, I’ll be starting for Ohio State this Saturday.’ I went home and tried to prepare a little more, studied a little more film. I couldn’t let anybody down. It was a pretty surreal moment, and obviously I’m very proud of it.

Q: How did you do in that handful of plays?

A: I did OK. I didn’t do anything special, but I did all right.

Q: How much would you like to earn a scholarship?

A: I keep thinking about that, but the ultimate goal is to compete and play for a team that competes for a championship. I tell myself that if I do everything right and contribute and do everything I can do and get better and better, that will come.

Q: You’re majoring in engineering. What do you think you’ll pursue as a career?

A: I have no idea. I’m very good at math and I do enjoy a lot of things in engineering. But honestly, I don’t know. There’s a chance I could go into the medical field or something to do with coaching football.